Perry County couple's plea hearing rescheduled for Dec. 1

The plea hearing in a criminal case that began following the death of a Perry County boy in August 2005 has been rescheduled for Dec. 1, defense attorney Allen Moss said.

Emily and Michael Altom were scheduled to be in Rolla, Mo., on Friday to plead guilty to three counts of felony child endangerment. Because of a conflict with the schedule of Circuit Judge Tracy L. Storie, the plea hearing has been set for Dec. 1, Moss said in an e-mail to the Southeast Missourian.

The Altoms were originally charged with voluntary manslaughter and three counts of felony child endangerment in September 2005. Perry County prosecutor Thomas Hoeh agreed to drop those charges and last week said the evidence developed in the case did not prove an essential element of the crime, that the Altoms had delayed seeking medical treatment for Ethan Patrick Williams, 4, who died Aug. 25, 2005.

Ethan died of an antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria. The disease had invaded a leg bone and the boy's lungs. Ethan was hospitalized for 25 days, most of that time at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.

The child endangerment charges stem from filthy conditions, including piled garbage, animal feces and other sanitation issues law enforcement officers and state child welfare workers say they discovered when they visited the Altoms' rural Perry County mobile home soon after Ethan was hospitalized in August 2005.

Hoeh has agreed to recommend probation on the child endangerment charges.